Car-seat.



B. F. FORTINER.

v3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

1 2 e D d 9 t H e t a P ATTORNEYs COLUMBIA PLANODRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D, c.

B. F. FORTINER.

CAR SEAT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. 1911.

Patented Dec.21,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

llllli. I

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH ISO-,WASHINUTON, D. c.

B. F. FORTINER.

CAR SEAT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. 1911.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- INVENTOR ATTORNEYS CDLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cc.,wAsl-uNflTON, D. c.

ltThlU @TATEh PATENT @FFlt/E.

BENJAMIN F. FORTINER, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE HALE & KILIBURN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CAB-SEAT.

Application filed April 6, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. Fon'rrxnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Seats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to seats of the character commonly employed in railway cars, and particularly to seats of the type known as turnover seats, in which the movement of reversal of the back is such that one face of the back is always the operative face.

One object of the invention is to provide a car-seat so constructed that the back thereof can. be readily removed whenever such removal may be necessary, in order to make repairs and to clean the cushion. However, as it is not desirable to have the parts so arranged that the back may be removed by persons other than those authorized to do so, I so construct the parts that the back is normally locked and can be removed only under certain predetermined conditions; thus, the back maybe so constructed that it can be removed only when in a definite position in its movement of reversal, as, for instance, when midway of its movement of reversal, at which time the arms supporting the back are vertically disposed.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism for locking the back in one or the other of its two operative positions. This improvement consists primarily in locating the locking device which coacts with the arms supporting the back at a substantial distance above the pivotal connections between the lower ends of these back-supporting arms and the supporting structure of the seat. In reversing the back, force is usually applied to the back near the upper edge of the latter and if the locking devices are located close to the pivotal connections of the lower ends of the back-supporting arms, the leverage upon the locking mechanism is great and breakage of the parts often results. By locating the locking mechanism at a considerable distance above the pivotal connection of the back-supporting arms, the leverage is materially decreased and a locking mechanism is pro,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, rare.

Serial No. 619,212.

as a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4

is a detai'lview hereinafter described; Fig. 5 1s a section through the lock; Fig. 6 is a .detall view illustrating a modification and i Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a view of the end of a back, illustrating a further modification; Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8; and Fig. 10 is a detail View, illustrating a further modification.

Referring to these drawings, Fig. l is a view of the aisle end of a car-seat showing the seat-end 1 to which is secured the sheetmetal pan 2, these parts being mounted on a suitable pedestal and forming with the pedestal a supporting structure at the aisle end of the seat. To the pan 2 is secured the frame 3 and the back-supporting arms 4: and 5 are pivotally connectedto this frame at their lower ends as illustrated at 6 and 7,

respectively. To the upper ends of the arms 4 and 5 is secured the back-cushion 8 of the seat. The frame 3 is provided with inwardly extending lugs 9 and 10 with one of which one of the back-supporting arms 4 and 5 coacts in each of the operative posi tions of the back to support the arms and hold them and the back rigidly in this position. One of the back-supporting arms is extended at its lower end and carries two studs 11 and 12, one of which is adapted to operate a seat-cushion to move it in the direction opposite to that in which the back is moved and the other of which is adapted to operate a foot-rest rail as is usual in seats of this type. At its upper end each of the arms 4 and 5 is provided with a slot 13 extending in the direction of the length of the arm and open at the end thereof. At its lower end the slot is enlarged slightly and is of circular form. The upper ends of the arms 4 and .5 are connected by a piece 17 which is pivot-ally connected by pivot-pint 23 (Fig. 3) to these'ends of the arms. A metallic supporting member 15 is secured to the back 8 by screws as shown, and this member 15 is formed to coact with the upper ends of the arms land 5 to support the back thereon. The member 15 is preferably shaped as shown in Fig. 3 wherein it will be seen that the central portion of the member .israised somewhat as shown at 16, to provide a slot under this raised portion and between it and the cushion 8. The member 16 has two pivot-pins 18 and 19 formed thereon, these pins having portions of their peripheries curved to correspond with the circular ends of the slots 13 and being flattened on opposite sides so that the distance between these parallel flattened sides is equal to the width of the upper portions of the slots 13. The portion 16 also has a guiding lug 20 formed integral therewith and the plate 17 which lies opposite the raised portion 16 has two guiding lugs 21 formed thereon and adapted, when the parts 15 and 17 are assembled, to straddle the lug 2-0 and thus assist in holding the parts rigidly in proper relative position. The pivot pins 18 and 19 are so positioned upon the member 15 that when the back is moved to a position midway of its movement of reversal at which time the arms 4 and 5 are vertically disposed and the back is horizontally disposed, as shown in Fig. 4, the flattened walls of the pins 18 and 19'will be in line with the walls of the slots 13 at the upper portions of those slots where they are narrower than at the lower circular portions thereof. The back may then be lifted vertically, the pins 18 and 19 passing out of the slots 13 in order to remove the back; when the back is so removed the arms 4 and 5 will be held in proper relative position by the connecting member 17; the back may then be cleaned and repaired as may be necessary and the operation may be carried on at a place where such work may be most conveniently done.

In assembling the back, the arms 4: and 5 are moved to their vertical position and the back, whlle held 1n a horizontal posltion is lowered upon the upper ends of the arms. In such movement of the back, the end of the guide-lug 20 wlll engage one or the other of the inclined surfaces 22 (Fig. 4;) formed upon the upper ends of the arms and 5 and will be guided by these inclined surfaces into the space between the upper ends of the arms 4 and 5, so that the downward movement of the back will carry the pins 18 and 19 into slots 13. When the pins reach the bottoms of the slots the back may be moved laterally to one or the other'of its operative positions and as soon as such movement is begun, the flattened sides of the pins 18 and 19 are carried out of alinement with the flat walls ofthe slots 13, and the back is then locked to the arms. It

will thus be seen that the back is readily removable from the arms by merely lifting it off the arms, but that the back is normally locked to the arms and can be removed therefrom only under jn'edetermincd conditions, that is, only when the back is in a predetermined position in its movement of reversal.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7, a dillerent construction is shown but one by which the same results are accomplished. Each of the baeksupporting arms 24 and 25 is provided with a removable socket-piece 26 and 27, respectively. These socket-pic es are pivotally connected to the member secured to the back in the manner heretofore common in seats of this type in which the back is not removable. Each of the pieces 26 and 27 is provided with a socket a (laptcd to receive a projection 23 upon the upper end of the corresponding arm Q-l and In the side of each socket-piece is an opening 2f) and in the projection 28 of the corresponding arm is a depression 30 alining with this opening. On each socket-piece opposite its point of pivotal connection to the member 15 is a projection 31 corresponding in shaj' to the openings 29 and depressions 30.

"en the back is in the position shown in Fig. 6, the proiection 31 on the socketpiece 26 enters the opening in the socketpiece 27 and the depression in the projection of the arm 25 so that removal of the back from the arms and 25 while the back is in this position is precliulcd. Tn moving the back to reverse it, the back is turned on its axis in addition to being moved bodily and such turning movement results in a slight separation in the arms 24-. and 25, this separation being such that in the middle position of the back in its movement of reversal the projection 31 on the socket-piece 26 is withdrawn from its opening and the back may then be removed, the socket-pieces being merely raised oil of the projections on their corresponding arms. if the movement of the back is continued, the latter is carried to its other operative position and in this position the pin 31 on the socket-piece 27 enters the opening in socketpiece 26 and arm 24 and again locks the back against removal.

Turning now to the locking mechanism for the back the frame 3 is provided with a barrel 32 (Fig. 5) in which a locking member 33 is adapted to reciprocate, a spring 31 normally pressing this locking member to the left in Fig. 5. In the end of the opening in the barrel is secured a plate 35 having an opening therein for a key, the latter being adapted to be inserted through this opening and an opening in the end of the member 33 and then turned to interlock it with the member 33, so that by pulling the key the member 33 may be drawn back- .wardly against the tension of spring 34.

Each of the arms 4; and 5 is provided with a lateral projection 36 and 37, respectively, in the end of which is an opening adapted to receive the end of the locking member 33. It will be seen that with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, and the end of member 33 extending within the opening in projection 37, the back is locked in the position in which it is shown, but by inserting the key, turning it and drawing it back, the locking member 33 may be withdrawn from the opening in projection 37 to permit reversal of the back; as soon as the move ment of reversal is begun the locking member 33 may be released and during this movement of reversal the end of the member 33 will bear against the surface of projection 37, arm 5, arm 4, and projection 36 and at the conclusion of this movement the end of the member 33 will be forced by spring ea into the opening in projection 36 to lock the back in this one of its operative positions. at will be seen that the looking member 33 is mounted a substantial distance above the points of pivotal connection of the arms 4 and 5 to the supporting structure of the seat and therefore the leverage upon the locking member when force is applied to the back to move the latter is materially less than would be the case if the locking member were mounted adjacent to this point of pivotal connection as has been done heretofore. Thus the danger of breakage of the parts is greatly reduced, a single locking member serves to lock the back in both of its operative positions and great strength and rigidity of the structure are secured.

In some cases it is desirable to provide a key-controlled lock for locking the removable back to the arms which support it in all positions of the back, so that the back can be removed only by a trainman who possesses a key for actuating the lock. Such a key-controlled lock is desirable in some cases even though the removable back is so constructed that it may be removed in only one position of its movement of reversal, in order to preclude the removal of the back by persons who are not authorized to do so. Such a construction is shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. In these figures, the back 8 has the supporting member 15 secured thereto and provided with pivot-pins 18 and 19 adapted to be received in slots formed in the upper ends of the back-supporting arms 4 and 5. The upper ends of these arms are pivotally connected by a plate 17 which is adapted to enter under the raised portion 16 of the supporting member 15. The guiding lug 20 in this construction has an opening therethrough adapted to receive a lockingmember 4,0, the end of which enters an open member 40 is provided with a key-opening 43, so that a key may be inserted therein, turned and then drawn back to withdraw the end of the locking-member from the opening in plate 17. The end of the member 40 is beveled off, as shown in Fig. 9, and

the pins tl hold the member in such position that when the back is positioned upon the arms 4 and 5 the lockingmember will be automatically pressed back against the tension of spring 42 until the back reaches its proper position with relation to arms a and 5, whereupon the locking-member 40 will be pressed forwardly by the spring to locking position. In Figs. 8 and 9, the slots in the upper ends of the arms aland 5 are of the same widththroughout, so that in this form the back may be removed in any position of its movement of reversal when released by the locking-member 4:0. The back is therefore held to the arms in all of its positions in its movement of reversal solely by the locking-member 40. Such a key-controlled lock is also of use in the form of my invention wherein the back is held to the arms by means other than the keycontrolled lock in all but one of its positions in its movement of reversal, and such a structure is shown in Fig. 10, which is like that shown in Fig. 1 in the respect that the pivot-pins 18 and 19 have flattened sides and the slots in the arms 4 and 5 are circular at their lower ends and above this narrower than the circular portions of the slots.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows 1. A car-seat comprising a supporting structure, two arms pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said structure and having slots in their upper ends, a back, pivot-pins upon said back adapted to be received within said slots to support the back upon the arms, said slots and pivot-pins be ing formed to lock the back to said arms except when the back is in a predetermined position, and means independent of said pivot pins and coacting with said arms for guiding the back when mounting it upon said arms to cause said pins to enter said slots, substantially as set forth.

2. A car-seat comprising a supporting structure, two arms pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said structure and having slots in their upper ends extending lengthwise of the arms, a member pivotally connected to said arms at their upper ends, a back, and pivot-pins on said back adapted to enter said slots and to coact with said arms to support the back upon said arms, substantially as set forth;

3. A car-seat comprising a supporting structure, two arms pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said structure and having slots in their. upper ends terminating in circular enlarged portions which slots extend but partially through said arms, a member pivotally connected to said arms concentric with said enlarged portions, a back, and pivot-pins on said back flattened on opposite sides adapted to enter said slots and enlarged portions to support the back upon said arms, substantially as set forth.

4. A car seat comprising a supporting structure, two arms pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said structure and having slots in their upper-ends, extending lengthwise of the arms, a member pivotally connected to said arms at their upper ends, a pair of lugs thereon, a back, a member secured tnereto having two pivot pins adapted to enter said slots and a guidin lug formed on said member, said pair or lugs being adapted to straddle said lastnamed lug when the said members are operatively assembled, substantially as set forth.

5. A car-seat comprising a supporting structure, two arms pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said structure, having inclined surfaces on their upper ends, and having slots in their upper ends, a back, a member secured thereto having two pivotpins adapted to enter said slots and a guid ing lug formed thereon, said lug being adapted to coact with the inclined surfaces of the upper ends of said arms when mounting the back upon the arms to guide said pins into said slots, substantially as set forth.

6. A car-seat comprising a supporting structure, two arms pivotally 'mounted at their lower ends upon said structure, extending upwardly therefrom and having slots in the upper ends thereof extending lengthwise of the arms, a back, pivot-pins on said back adapted to be received in said slots to support the back upon said arms, and a lock for locking the back to said arms, substantially as set forth.

7. A car-seat comprising a supporting 5 structure, two arms pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said structure, extend ing upwardly therefrom and having slots in the upper ends thereof extending lengthwise of the arms, a back, pivot-pins on said back adapted to be received in said slots to support the back on said arms, said slots and pivot-pins being formed to lock the back to the arms when the back is in predetermined position, and a key-controlled lock for locking the back to said arms, substantially as set forth.

8. A car-seat comprising a supporting structure, two arms pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said structure and having slots at their upper ends, a plate pivotally connected to the upper ends of the arms, a back, a membersecured to the back and formed to provide a space between it and the back which receives the upper ends of the arms and said plate, and pivot-pins on said member within said space and entering the notches in said arms, substantially as set forth.

9. A car-seat comprising a supporting structure, two arms pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said structure and having slots at their upper ends, a plate pivotally connected to the upper ends of the arms, a back, a member secured to the back and formed to provide a space between it and the back which receives the upper ends of the arms and said plate, pivot-pins on said member within said space and entering the notches in said arms, and a lock on said member and coacting with said plate, sul stantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 31st day of March, 1911.

BENJAMIN F. FORTINER.

Witnesses JOHN B. KILBURN, VVALTER M. Swozn.

Denies of this atent me be obtained for five cents each. b addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

.t Y J Washington, D. (3.? 

